Supreme Court hears Indian land case

November 04, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rhode Island officials told the Supreme Court on Monday that permitting the federal government to hold land owned by the Narragansett Indian Tribe would undercut the state's criminal, safety and zoning laws. State leaders fear if the 31-acre lot is governed by tribal and federal law, they would lose jurisdiction over it. The tribe could then build a casino on the land or create a tax-free zone that would hurt the state's revenues. Casinos are banned under state law, but tribes can build and operate them on lands held in federal trust. Justices stepped into the dispute over the federal government's ability to take land into trust for American Indian tribes in a closely watched case that could have a dramatic impact on how tribes recognized after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act are allowed to buy, govern and use land. The Narragansetts became a federally recognized tribe in 1983. The case is Carcieri v. Kempthorne, 07-526.